5 Compelling Reasons To Ditch The Diet Mentality

You’ve been here before. You read about a new diet that is guaranteed to get results. Fast!

You give it a try and, big surprise, it doesn’t deliver the expected results. On top of that, you don’t feel your best, you’re starving, and you begin to notice people are giving you a wide berth.

Must be something crazy looking in your eyes. 🙂

Diets, in the traditional sense, that we’ve all come to know and hate, are destined to fail. On the list of bad 4-letter words, “diet” should be right at the top. It is truly an awful word.

It’s All In Your Head

When you think of diets, you probably think of starvation and deprivation. Not exactly the elements of the happy, contented life you dream of, right?

But with all the bad food choices out there, and their associated temptations, is there any other way? You just have to suck it up and do it, right?

Wrong!

Kick to the curb, and fast, any plan that forces you into a bad fit and holds you to unrealistic expectations.

Instead, stop thinking diet. Start thinking, make better choices.

The Problem With Diets

There are five very significant reasons that diets, as you think of them, set you up for failure.

1) Short-term goals derail long-term results.

Often people go “on a diet” to lose a chunk of weight, in a hurry, before an important life event. Or maybe they make a quick knee-jerk decision based on a depressing day of shopping for new jeans. Either way, they launch into a strict diet to quickly cast off unwanted weight.

The problem with this approach is that once the event is over, or the immediate desire fades, they return to their old habits. And — you guessed it — put the weight right back on. Sometimes even more than was there before.

Long-lasting weight loss takes time, and it demands that you make healthier food choices overall. Making better choices may mean that you lose weight a bit more slowly, but it allows you to adjust to the changes so that they become life-long habits instead of short-term craziness.

2) Yo-yo diet and weight cycling work against your body, and your mind.

Short-term diets and on-again/off-again diet changes cause you to lose and gain weight like a, well, yo-yo. Up and down and up and down, and then up and up and up.

Not to be flippant, but this diet mentality not only confuses your body, but it also can begin to affect the way you think about your body. Constantly going from huge diet restrictions to falling back into old habits, and repeating that cycle over and over again, often leads to eating disorders. Not good!

3) Diets should not be one size fits all.

Too many diets require you to count calories and follow a generic formula not tailored to your individual metabolic and dietary needs. Your starting weight, your height, and other factors all must be considered to determine how much you should eat.

Also, the source of the calories you eat is important. Empty calories from sugary, sodium-heavy foods are much different than those you get from high-fiber foods, like spinach or sweet potatoes.

You’ll get far better results when you look at portion sizes, food categories, and adjust according to your personal needs.

4) The deprivation mentality sets you up for failure.

When you look at a diet as something that forces you to steer clear of all of the foods you love, you’re doomed from the start. Your attitude and approach is one of punishment and deprivation rather than a healthy attitude of making good choices, most of the time.

When you can’t stop thinking about how much you want something, like a giant piece of chocolate cake, then that chocolate cake will dominate your every waking thought. How long do you think you’ll be able to resist that temptation?

We always want what we can’t have. Healthy eating is not about deprivation. It’s about being aware and making healthy choices, more often than not.

5) Traditional diets completely ignore food cravings.

We all have foods we crave. Without the tools to help navigate cravings effectively, you’ll be a slave to those cravings and eventually they’ll win.

When you learn to eat healthier foods and discover ways to make healthy foods crave-worthy, you’re much less likely to fall prey to unhealthy food choices.

You Can Train Your Brain

You can learn how to adjust the way you look at food. You can begin to change your eating habits so that you’re more inclined to choose foods that are good for you, and still taste good.

You’ll find that once you begin cutting out greasy, fatty, salty, sugary foods you once loved, you’ll feel better and look better. Soon those bad foods won’t even look appealing to you anymore.

You’ll drop unwanted weight more slowly, yes, but you’ll be able to maintain those better habits over the long haul.

Instead of dieting, you’ll be living. Living a healthy, happy, balanced life.

A life where you’ll never have to go on a diet again.

Doesn’t that sound incredible?

To find a program uniquely designed to help you learn to ditch the diet mentality and live a more happy, balanced life, click here to contact me. We have a variety of programs to help you. We’ll help you chose the best plan for your needs. Click here now: Contact Teri.